The Great Hearts

By: David Oliver

Narrated by: David Oliver

Calidan Darkheart is an Imperator. The voice of the Emperor in the wild. A secretive and dangerous job, hunting down those deemed a threat to the Emperor's rule...whether monster or man. Twisted and bitter, he heads down a dark path to hunt a nightmare from his youth. This is his story.

©2017 David Oliver (P)2018 David Oliver

grimdark coming of age and hidden scifi???

The story is the beginning of a grimdark fantasy, but it isnt about the character as an adult until the end. It is told past tense first person of Calidan Darkheart, an imperator of the empire. It seems to be a coming of age story with a lull in the middle that is basically a wholw training saga.

The great heart references a beast companion that makes him OP, which is cool because Seiya is like a huge panther who is catty as all hell, pun intended.

I did not enjoy the middle of the story, but the end and beginning was good. I did think the use of a FF7 boss was a little cheap to use. It specifically used the first boss, the scorpion boss complete with laser tail, lol.

The ending was meh, I might look at the second book if there was another.

Dark fantasy that willLeave you chilled

Sometimes it’s good to cheer for
The bad guys. Sometimes it requires the good guys to employ some not so good guys. Sometimes those who have been twisted and broken make the best servants. This is one such tale. Of some not so nice people who are the unlikely heroes that do the dark things the traditional hero can’t. Love these darker fantasy tales! I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

A great Start for Great Hearts!!

This isn't so much a debut novel as it is a breakout novel. This book really hits a lot of tones, tempos, and toothy subjects. It revolves around two friends, Calidan and Cassius, who train to become great fighters. The story starts out grimly, with their homes, and all their loved ones, getting wiped out. From there, they go forth and try to improve their lots in life together. They have some great adventures, and there is a cool/odd/exciting twist at the end. This book has a lot going for it, character development is there, there just could have been more. Other than that the story is great.

Oliver narrates his own tale, which is fun, because who knows their story better than the person who wrote it? You here him do the voices as he heard them in his head! He sets the pacing, the mood, the tone. He embodies it.

I cannot wait for part 2 to come out to see what happens next. I must come clean and admit that I did receive a promo code to review this book, but that had NO bearing on my opinions stated above.

Get it, read it, love it.

A very solid start of a (hopefully) new series

I was given this free review copy audio book at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I found that I quite enjoyed this one. The two main characters were interesting and well developed. Normally, I have found I don't care for books narrated by their author, but I thought he did a good job on this one. I am on the fence on the flashback thing. I understand why the author did it, but I would have almost preferred that the story start with where the flashback starts, rather than start current, then flashback. Either way, I still really enjoyed the book, so that is a very minor complaint. I definitely have interest in the next of the series, should one come out.

Enjoyed the listen!

Enjoyed the book. Great narration with a fantastic story. Well worth the credit and the listen.
This book is on my multiple listen list.


This book was provided at no cost for a fair and honest review.